Hello Everyone, welcome to another post of mine where I talk about the last round of Hivechess hosted by @stayoutoftherz. As you can see from the image above, I came 3rd - A finish that came down to a last draw offer I made in the dying seconds of the tournament.
The Hive chess tournament yesterday was fun, one could argue that it was because of the faster time control, however I think it was because there were a lot of 2000+ players playing. I had a few easy games at first, then lot of losses. I'd analyze one game in this post then later in the week, I'd do a themed analysis on some other games.
Other Themed analysis from Hivechess tournaments includes; Learning about Invisible moves and also The Art of bluffing in chess
@tortyllan Vs @Samostically 1-0
I entered the tournament with a plan of going 100% beserk mode which I knew was very difficult if my opponents dont beserk back. In 2+1, a beserk means. You start with 1 minute and you even lose the added time benefit. I think it's a death sentence to be honest. I didn't realize it that much till the tournament started. I lost to this opponent in a terrible fashion and many other players. I decided not to press the beserk button the next time - It didn't change the result
After 7.Nf3. I felt comfortable in the opening. I planned to castle long and play with my active pieces. However I played carefully and castle short and made so many hasty moves.
I didn't have a plan. When I berserk, I always have a plan because I know I dont have much time. But here, i didn't and few moves later I was on the back foot. In a somewhat equal positio, white is better.
I already knew this was going bad. But in chess, it's never over until it is. An opportunity came for me.
My opponent played Bf1? A huge blunder. Black to play and win!
I Missed it!
Yeah and I lost the game. After the brilliant end combination by white.
From here it was lost. As black can't stop checkmate.
[Event "Hivechess S20 Round 6 Arena"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/iCqigEOQ"]
[Date "2025.03.07"]
[White "tortyllan"]
[Black "ZGM_Samostically"]
[Result "1-0"]
[GameId "iCqigEOQ"]
[UTCDate "2025.03.07"]
[UTCTime "20:36:17"]
[WhiteElo "2275"]
[BlackElo "2314"]
[WhiteRatingDiff "+6"]
[BlackRatingDiff "-7"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[TimeControl "120+1"]
[ECO "B00"]
[Opening "Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Exchange Variation"]
[Termination "Normal"]
[Annotator "lichess.org"]
1. e4 { [%clk 0:02:00] } 1... d5 { [%clk 0:02:00] } 2. exd5 { [%clk 0:01:59] } 2... Qxd5 { [%clk 0:02:01] } 3. d4 { [%clk 0:01:59] } 3... Nc6 { [%clk 0:02:01] } { B00 Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian Variation, Exchange Variation } 4. c3 { [%clk 0:01:59] } 4... e5 { [%clk 0:02:01] } 5. Be3 { [%clk 0:02:00] } 5... exd4 { [%clk 0:02:01] } 6. cxd4 { [%clk 0:02:01] } 6... Nf6 { [%clk 0:02:01] } 7. Nf3 { [%clk 0:02:01] } 7... Ng4 { [%clk 0:02:01] } 8. Nc3 { [%clk 0:02:00] } 8... Bb4 { [%clk 0:02:01] } 9. Bd3 { [%clk 0:01:57] } 9... O-O { [%clk 0:02:01] } 10. O-O { [%clk 0:01:57] } 10... Bxc3 { [%clk 0:02:01] } 11. bxc3 { [%clk 0:01:58] } 11... Nxe3 { [%clk 0:02:01] } 12. fxe3 { [%clk 0:01:58] } 12... Re8 { [%clk 0:02:02] } 13. e4 { [%clk 0:01:58] } 13... Qh5 { [%clk 0:02:02] } 14. e5 { [%clk 0:01:57] } 14... Bg4 { [%clk 0:02:01] } 15. Qb1 { [%clk 0:01:55] } 15... b6 { [%clk 0:02:00] } 16. Qb5 { [%clk 0:01:55] } 16... Ne7 { [%clk 0:01:59] } 17. h3 { [%clk 0:01:53] } 17... Bxf3 { [%clk 0:01:56] } 18. Rxf3 { [%clk 0:01:54] } 18... Ng6 { [%clk 0:01:56] } 19. Qd7 { [%clk 0:01:52] } 19... Rf8 { [%clk 0:01:55] } 20. Qxc7 { [%clk 0:01:52] } 20... Rac8 { [%clk 0:01:51] } 21. Qxa7 { [%clk 0:01:51] } 21... Rxc3 { [%clk 0:01:51] } 22. Qxb6 { [%clk 0:01:52] } 22... Qg5 { [%clk 0:01:43] } 23. Qb7 { [%clk 0:01:42] } 23... Qd2 { [%clk 0:01:36] } 24. Bf1 { [%clk 0:01:36] } 24... Rc2 { [%clk 0:01:35] } 25. Qe4 { [%clk 0:01:30] } 25... Rd8 { [%clk 0:01:33] } 26. e6 { [%clk 0:01:26] } 26... fxe6 { [%clk 0:01:30] } 27. Qxe6+ { [%clk 0:01:25] } 27... Kh8 { [%clk 0:01:30] } 28. Re1 { [%clk 0:01:19] } 28... Qxd4+ { [%clk 0:01:29] } 29. Kh1 { [%clk 0:01:18] } 29... Nf8 { [%clk 0:01:24] } 30. Qe7 { [%clk 0:01:09] } 30... Kg8 { [%clk 0:01:16] } 31. Qf7+ { [%clk 0:01:06] } 31... Kh8 { [%clk 0:01:14] } 32. Qxf8+ { [%clk 0:01:07] } { Black resigns. } 1-0
You can copy the pgn and follow the game move by move.
Conclusion
While it was a tournament I felt I'd have done better, I was happy with a podium finish. Congratulations to the winners and see y'all next friday. Feel free to drop by for my themed analysis from hive chess later this week.